


the dust of the stars in your eyes

by zeiitnot



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Confessions, F/F, Fic Exchange, Minor Use of Alcohol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:01:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22762885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeiitnot/pseuds/zeiitnot
Summary: Jumping into a new universe is somehow less daunting than having a crush on her long-time best friend, but with a little push from her coworker, Velocity gathers the courage to tell Nautica how she feels.
Relationships: Nautica/Velocity
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	the dust of the stars in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Written for crimsonseekers as part of the 2020 femslash fic exchange. Hope you enjoy it!

Jumping to a new universe was one thing - a miraculous thing, really; for the chances of success had been so infinitesimally small that no one could have been sure it would work. They’d done it, though, and the celebrations afterwards had been like none the _Lost Light_ had ever seen, for they had anything and everything ahead of them now, endless adventures and incalculable possibilities the likes of which none of them had ever imagined. 

Making that nigh impossible jump into the unknown had been one thing.

Taking a guess at _anything_ that lay ahead of them was another thing entirely. A whole new universe, who could even begin to contemplate anything they might face? 

Well, there was _one thing_ that Velocity knew inevitably lay ahead of her. It had been a long time coming, longer than she’d even realized, but certain events during her time on the _Lost LIght_ had really brought things into perspective. All of the adventures she’d taken part in since she’d joined the crew, all the laughs, tears, fears, and joy she’d shared with the crew - her _friends_ \- were all wonderful memories she’d cherish for the rest of her life.

But there was one relationship that Velocity knew, without a doubt, she wanted to cherish the most as the _Lost Light_ took on _forever_. 

Ever since the day they’d met, Velocity had cared about Nautica and she wasn’t quite sure when affection had grown into love or when that love had deepened beyond the point she thought of Nautica as someone she wanted to spend forever with. She suspected she’d been in love with her best friend for a long time - Nautica had been the one Velocity had missed the most when she’d left for her residency. Nautica was the reason she’d joined Firestar to find their missing friends after Windblade, Chromia, and Nautica left with Thunderclash. 

Nautica was the reason that Velocity had chosen to stay with the _Lost Light_ when their paths crossed. 

She’d thought that it was because she missed her best friend. Joining the crew on their quest gave her all the time she needed to catch up with Nautica and see the universe, do some _good_ with her medical training while she was at it. Exploring and bonding with new friends as well as her old one gave Velocity such a new view of her life, her relationships, and her goals. Everything that they’d been through since Velocity joined the _Lost Light_ only seemed to shed more light on the depth of her feelings for her best friend.

Good times and bad times together seemed to push and pull at her spark where Nautica was concerned. Like any friendship, they’d had their share of ups and downs, with their lowest point on Troja Major when Nautica had nearly broken her spark by offering to _sell_ their friendship on a gamble. Even facing certain death by the Decepticons on the Necrobot’s world had been less horrible than the idea that Nautica would throw away everything they had together.

When Nautica had chosen _her_ over the astronomically small chance of saving Skids, Velocity could’ve cried from relief and she wondered if that was the moment that she’d really realized just how much Nautica truly meant to her. 

Velocity would never have called herself a shy or nervous person, being the type to boldly walk up to a flaring Firestar and drenching her to cool her down, immediately chat up total strangers, offer genuine kindness to a mech who’d been a warlord for millions of years until just recently. 

But when it came to the sudden realization that she was, in fact, deeply in love with her best friend, Velocity could feel her fuel tank anxiously gurgling and her spark pulsing wildly at the thought of ever confessing her feelings. It made her hands shake and her brow furrow, the wheels of her shoulders spin back and forth nervously. All little things, but even little things were noticeable to mechs who were trained to take note of all the little things - 

\- like First Aid.

The two of them were on the same shift in the medbay, mostly going through the stockroom to take inventory of the supplies they kept. New universe or not, they needed to make sure they had everything they needed in order to take care of the crew for forever. First Aid and Velocity were splitting the task, with Aid on the lower shelves to the left and Velocity clearing the top shelves on the right.

First Aid’s voice cut into Velocity’s thoughts as she reflected on her feelings. “Lottie, you alright there? Your wheels are rotating.”

“Are they?” Velocity knew they were and having it pointed out only brought a hot flush of red to her cheeks. Her hands shook and she dropped a box of mesh patches to the floor. She quickly crouched to pick it up. “I’m fine, really. Just have a lot on my mind.”

“A lot that isn’t doing inventory, I’d guess.” First Aid stood up and turned to Velocity, taking the box of patches from her and setting them on the shelf. “C’mon, it’s time for a break. I’ve got sweet energon in the break room. Let’s talk.”

“Oh - I don’t - “

“It helps if you don’t bottle things up, trust me,” First Aid told her and Velocity could hear the soft smile behind the other medic’s mask. He set a hand on her shoulder, stopping her wheel from its nervous half-rotations. “You can talk to me. We’re friends, not just coworkers.”

Velocity nodded and followed First Aid into the medbay’s break room. While First Aid fetched glasses of his promised sweet energon, she took a seat at the table they had set up and let her fingers tap rhythmically against the surface. First Aid set a glass in front of her and she took it in her hands, her tapping moving onto the glass.

“Let me guess, you’ve got a crush,” First Aid commented as he sat down across from her. 

“Is it that obvious?” Velocity asked.

“Well, I’ve never seen you quite this nervous. Even when you called me for consultation with Swerve, you had a cooler head than now.” First Aid retracted his mask and took a sip of his drink. “Besides, I do the same thing - wheel rotation and all.”

Velocity gave a small smile, amused at the idea of First Aid’s wheels spinning nervously like hers. “I’ve never seen you spin your wheels.”

“It’s… been a while,” First Aid admitted. His expression turned wistful. “You weren’t here when Ambulon was - ”

“...Oh.” Velocity felt a bit guilty, reminding First Aid of his grief; she’d never met Ambulon, but she’d heard the story and she reached for First Aid’s hand. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. I’m still healing, but… he won’t be the last mech I love.” First Aid gave Velocity’s hand a grateful squeeze. He offered her a small smile. “So, tell me about your crush.”

Velocity smiled back, knowing she could trust First Aid, and she told him about her feelings for Nautica, the history they shared, and her realizations. First Aid listened, laughed with her as she recounted the first time she’d met Nautica, gripped her hand as she spoke of Troja Major. Her wheels spun a few times, but as she talked to him, her nerves eased; it just felt better to tell someone, even if it wasn’t Nautica herself.

Eventually, they had to get back to inventory, but Velocity was sure to tell First Aid that he’d helped her a lot by letting her tell him and sort her thoughts. He smiled at her and told her he was glad to help. The two of them returned to their work and, with Velocity feeling more relaxed, they were able to get through their stockroom and make a list of everything they’d need to keep the crew from literally falling apart.

Productivity felt great and Velocity had a skip in her step now. With the inventory list finished and everything being put where it belonged, and her shift being almost over, she hummed an old Camien song - she remembered it from a play she’d been part of before university; she’d liked the play’s story and music, but being part of the play had made it clear to her that acting just wasn’t for her. The song was, she only now realized, a love song, its lyrics a soulful poem from a shy spark to its other half. 

Lyrical fantasy, full of metaphors that had gone over Velocity’s head at the time - she’d been an observing tertiary actor in the play, so the song hadn’t been _important_ to her, but she thought of it now and how she felt about Nautica.

> _“I lie in the loneliness of evening, looking out on a silver-flaked sea ; and ask the moon, oh how soon, how soon, will my love come home to me?”_

She stopped her humming to blush slightly. Her wheels turned again and she felt First Aid’s hand on her shoulder.

“Go talk to her,” First Aid suggested softly. “I never got to tell Ambulon how I felt about him. I don’t want you to miss out on telling _her_ how you feel.”

Velocity wasn’t sure that telling Nautica was going to be as easy as that, but she gave a grateful nod for the encouragement. “Thank you, First Aid.”

“Good luck.”

* * *

Nautica was having a _day_ . She just wanted to curl up with a datapad and a glass of energon wine. Ever since the _Lost Light_ had made its jump into the new universe, she’d been feeling a deep sense of - 

\- something.

She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. It felt like some kind of unfinished thought, like a blueprint she’d left to complete after a break or a book she’d set aside, bookmarked for later reading - and then forgotten about. She’d thought that, with the jump into the new universe, she could finally put that sense behind her, move on with her life the further into the universe the _Lost Light_ traveled. However, it only seemed to get worse and she couldn’t describe it. It made her spark ache and her head hurt and the only thing that seemed to settle that feeling was hanging out with Velocity.

Which was convenient, since the two of them shared a hab, much like they had in university. The two of them could share drinks and watch movies from Earth - thanks to Bluestreak’s interstellar wifi, which worked beautifully, even in this new universe; in fact, they picked up even better signal and could access even more new books, movies, shows, anything they wanted really. It gave Nautica and Velocity endless movie nights, curled up together on one of their berths with a datapad in their hands.

Movie night in their hab was one of Nautica’s favorite things and she wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

Even thinking about it eased that ache in her chest and Nautica knew exactly what she needed after a long day of headaches and infuriatingly frustrating mysterious senses, however deep they might be. She pinged Velocity and asked if she was on her way back to the hab after her shift.

_« I’m just in the hallway now, »_ came Velocity’s reply over her commlink. _« You have the energon wine ready? »_

Nautica crossed their hab to the cooler in the corner, where she had a stash of wines and liquors she picked up whenever they landed planet-side. She picked a bottle of gorgeous swirling pink hues and checked the label - a sweeter high-grade wine, it seemed perfect to unwind with after a long day _. « Got it. You just bring yourself to the hab and I’ll get the datapad set up. »_

_« On it. »_

Within a couple of minutes, the door to their shared hab slid open and Velocity stepped in. Nautica felt so much better already. She grabbed two glasses for the wine brought it all over to her berth, where she set them down and invited Velocity to sit, which the other Camien did. Nautica joined her, reaching for the datapad she kept on her bedside table. 

“So what do we watch tonight? Bluestreak’s been recommending _The Dark Crystal_ and it looks pretty interesting, but there’s also _-_ ”

“Actually… can we talk first?” 

Nautica felt that hollowness in her chest return suddenly, the tone in Velocity’s voice surprising her; she’d only ever heard that pitch in Velocity’s voice when they’d been in university, during exams - Velocity was _nervous_ and that was a rare thing, as she knew from experience, having known her for so long. Velocity was brave, determined, and had so much more confidence than Nautica did, so for her to be nervous about something immediately had Nautica concerned.

She reached for Velocity’s hand. “Are you alright, Lotty? Is it about the Jump?”

Velocity’s wheels were rotating - centimeters forward, then centimeters back, something that Nautica had been so amused by during exams when they were students, but only added to her concern now.

“No, it’s not about the Jump,” Velocity replied. She gripped back at Nautica’s hand. “If I was worried about jumping from one universe to another, I wouldn’t have agreed to it so easily. Leaving home, leaving our universe, exploring something entirely new like this? It’s a grand adventure and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.”

Nautica smiled at her, glad to hear it; when she, Perceptor, and Brainstorm had proposed the idea, they’d known the chances of success were insanely low, but even the slimmest of chances were worth it to stay together as a crew, as a family, as friends and loved ones. 

Because Nautica knew she never wanted to be separated from the people she loved. 

Including and, _most importantly_ , she realized as she squeezed her friend’s hand, Velocity.

That was the sense she kept having, the hollow feeling and tightness that was only relieved by Velocity’s presence. It had been so hard to recognize, because she’d never really been in love before; oh, she’d loved before - she loved her amica, though only Velocity and Brainstorm remained, she still loved them. Her feelings for Velocity just ran so much _deeper_ than she’d ever realized until now, as Velocity squeezed back at her hand.

“You can talk to me,” Nautica gently encouraged, unwittingly echoing the same words Velocity had heard from First Aid earlier. 

A shaky sigh escaped Velocity’s lips. “Nautica, you know everything we’ve been through. We’ve been friends since - well, I don’t need to tell you how long.” She laughed and Nautica laughed with her, their hands still clasped together. “I just… we’re exploring this new universe now and I’m so glad, because we’ve got forever to explore, and I just - ”

Velocity shifted so she could face Nautica, golden optics meeting brilliant blue, and she reached for Nautica’s other hand as she vented air deep into her systems. “There’s no one I’d want to spend forever on the grandest adventure with more than you, Nautica. I love you.”

The feeling in Nautica’s chest welled up, bubbling and bringing a smile to her face at Velocity’s confession. Anyone else would have chalked the revelations Nautica had moments ago and Velocity’s confession just now to be coincidence, but they were just settling into the beginning of something new, exciting, and wonderful - what better time for both of them to realize the depth of their feelings?

“I love you, too,” Nautica replied, tangling her fingers with Velocity’s. She leaned close and touched her helm against Velocity’s, a light gesture of affection. “I feel the same. I could never enjoy forever without you.”

Velocity’s warm gold optics widened in surprise. “ _Oh_.”

“Oh, indeed,” Nautica smiled. “Weren’t expecting it to be reciprocal, were you?”

“Caught me off guard, but I’m so glad it is.” Velocity returned the smile with her own, bright and cheerful. She let go of Nautica’s hands and slid them around her instead, pulling her closer. “This was a lot easier than I thought it’d be when First Aid gave me a gentle push to tell you.”

Nautica bumped her nose against Velocity’s. “At least you had First Aid to give you that push. I’ve been working it around like an equation I couldn’t solve.”

Velocity laughed and pressed a small, experimental kiss against Nautica’s lips. “Of course you have. I love that about you, the way everything’s an equation or puzzle, something for you to figure out.”

“Well, yes, that’s what makes life fun.” Nautica smiled at her. “But having solved that, it begs the question, what to do now?”

“What to do mean?” Velocity asked. She let go of Nautica’s hands and reached for the bottle of energon wine and glasses they’d left sitting on the table. She poured the wine into the glasses and held one out for Nautica. “Now we make this movie night into date night. What do you say to that?”

Nautica took the glass with a smile and clinked it lightly against Velocity’s. “I say that’s a great idea.”

The two of them took sips from their glasses, shifting to make themselves comfortable as they settled in for a movie. Nautica reached for the datapad.

“But what do we watch?”


End file.
